Thursday, November 5, 2009

Today I wore my generic merino wool shirt covered by my Helly Hansen polypropylene shirt covered by my CannondaleMorphis shell. That was much nicer then my HH shirt and toko jacket which I've been wearing on days like today. And mind you- today wasn't "cold". I believe it started at about 34 and on the way home was 39 or so. Today's choice felt light and non-constricting then the more form fitting and stretchy toko jacket feels (which isn't a bad thing). I think I may have to attempt some polarfleece under the wind block of the shell. I don't own a decent actual polarfleece shirt so I may have to do some shopping.

I only have the toko and the cannondale for outter layers so when it's 50 below I try to stuff a base, mid, and heavyweight insulation layer all under the morphis- not such an easy feat. I may have to look at something more in the soft-shell area.

My hat seems to be giving me a cold spot on the top of my head like a needle. I don't recall that feeling from last year. The hat I've used for a while now is a Nike something or other and it's worked quite well but perhaps I've worn it so much it's lost some of its performance. I think I'll look for another as I was quite happy and it was pretty cheep and from like shop-ko or something (was a Christmas present- Thanks Sis! )

Gloves- I'm borderline between my half-finger pearl izumi with a 1$ pair of "magic gloves" on top and my Kombi gore-tex gloves. I don't find them too warm at this temp but if it hits anything above 40 it's too much. The weather can vary significantly depending on which way the wind is blowing- off the lake it's a very wet humid cold feeling temp. Off the shore it's dry and warmer feeling.

Take away lesson from today- wool (even though it's merino) slightly itchy- more air space between the layers and the shell with the morphis= added warmth.

P.S. Almost lost it on the lakewalk today- front tire slid out and I had instant flashbacks of Doug's fall. Luckily the tire grabbed and the bike righted itself again. I was going to put the studded tires on tonight but their calling for a warm spell. I'll wait until the next dive and just be extra carefull in the mornings. Keep your wheels on the ground!